by Michelle Tejada, staff reporter

Many people have crazy families. However, there’s always the ‘normal’ one who feels different. Students in the school went to the Longacre Theatre to watch the play You Can’t Take It With You on Wednesday February 11th.

You Can’t Take It With You is an old play about a dysfunctional family (the Sycamores)  being compared to a more wealthy and strict business family (the Kirby’s). Differences between the Sycamores and Kirbys frustrate Alice because she wants her family to be like the Kirby’s.

Kristine Nielsen stars as Penelope Sycamore, the mother of Alice Sycamore (played by Anna Chlumsky). Paul Sycamore (played by Richard Thomas) is her husband.

Essie Carmichael (played by Annaleigh Ashford) is a wife, likes to dance and dreams of becoming a ballerina. The problem is that she dances whenever while her husband Ed Carmichael’ plays the xylophone. Even her instructor isn’t the average instructor. Instructor  Boris Kolenkhov, escaped Russia and came to America.

Alice Sycamore is the “normal” one in the family, who works in an office. She falls in love with Tony Kirby, Mr. and Mrs. Kirby’s son who is the President of Kirby and Co.

Although Alice loves her family, she also thinks they are very embarrassing. Tony views Alice’s family as “perfect” because they care about each other and show love for one another. Mr. Kirby secretly doesn’t like his job and only works for the company to follow family tradition.

Martin Vanderhof, known as “Grandpa,” believes in the philosophy of ‘do not do anything you are not going to enjoy doing’. He plays an important part into helping both families realize what a “family” really means. Which is love and care for one another.

“It was very dry humor. It would be better fit for an older crowd. It was a good [play] just not for me,” junior Barabara Kasomenakis said.

This play was for an older audience. Most of the jokes were not funny to the younger audience than it was for them. The audience who laughed at the jokes were older than the ones who did not find anything funny. The younger audience found the characters personalities to be funnier than the actual joke. It was entertaining to watch but it could have definitely added more comedy.

Alice believes that since she belongs in a dysfunctional family that she can not be with Tony, who belongs to a wealthy, professional family. Martin described how a family should be and how they are loving and should do what they love. He explained to them that they are missing out on a lot by wasting time on a business that they don’t want to do. This helps Alice and Tony’s parents open their eyes to what a real family means, which is a big important theme to this play: love.

Being true to oneself and following one’s dreams is also a theme in this play. The Sycamores do what they dream of and do not care about what anybody else thinks. This is great advice for people everywhere.

“I thought the cast did a good job infusing energy into the play. The show really gained momentum at the end of the second act and the third act was fantastic. It’s an older play, and I think it was hard for some students to transport themselves to that time period,” teacher and former Broadway performer Daniel Petrotta said.

In the end, Alice is happy that the Kirbys accept them for who they truly are. The “accident” of Tony bringing his parents to the Sycamores on the wrong date allowed them to see the Sycamore’s as they really were. Tony’s character is amazing because he loves the Sycamores and wants to show Alice that they are perfect just the way they are. Unlike the rest of his family he’s unique and thinks in a different way.

“I loved the ending of the play because it was a happy ending. And the family game they were playing was hilarious because they started conflicts with each other while playing a family game. There was a lot of funny moments but sometimes it was too long and it dragged on,” junior Heejin Kim said.

A lesson learned from this play is that a person should accept people for who they are. People shouldn’t be embarrassed by the flaws they have because everyone has flaws. It shouldn’t limit themselves based on their social class and how much money they have. This play was a good influence for anyone who is going through a similar situation as Alice.

This stage that the play was performed on was different than most. The stage could rotate and change the scenery of the play. It could either take place in the house or rotate and take place outside of the house. The play had an interesting view as the actors danced while it rotated.

Even though it was an ok play and the stage was well designed, they could’ve added more comedy to it that people would understand.